Balancing device



May 29, 1945. F. A. NICHOLS 2,377,096

BALANCING 'DEVICE Filed Oct. 22. 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F7950 A Aha/#045 May 29, 1945.

F. A. NICHOLS BALANCING DEVICE Filed Oct. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 P791927 A. NICHOLS Patented May 29, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BALANCING DEVICE Fred A. Nichols;- Detroit, Mich.

Application October 22, 1943, Serial No. 507,335

3 Claims.

This invention relates to balancing devices flat abutment wall l3. The bushing 12 is threadand has for one of its objects the production of a simple and efficient means for balancing a rotatable member, such as a polishing or grinding wheel and the like. i

A further object of this invention is the production of a balancing device which i simply constructed, inexpensive to manufacture, and which may be accurately adjusted in a highly convenient manner.

Another object of this invention is to provide a balancing device which is detachably secured to the rotatable member, and which may be conveniently' attached thereto and removed therefrom.

Other objects and advantages will appear throughout the following specification and claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the balancing device;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the balancing device, a portion of the rotatable member being shown.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1; it

Figure 4 i a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view or the clamping ring removed from the assembly and illustrating the slots formed therein for receiving the balancing arm; t

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of one size of detachable center bushing;

Figure l is a side elevational view of another size of detachable center bushing which may be used upon a smaller center arbor than that illustrated in Figure 6;

Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating the bushing shown in Figure 7 applied to the body portion of the balancing device;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of a modified form of the balance arm;

Figure 9 is a side elevational view of the form of balancing arm shown in Figure 8;

Figure 10 isa plan view of the inclosing disc, on a reduced scale and looking at the inner face thereof.

By referring to the drawings, it will be seen that I0 designates the body portion of the device, in the nature of a disc having a flat face II, which is adapted to fit against a rotatable member such as a polishing or grinding wheel or similar element A. The body portion [0 i provided upon its opposite face with beveled sides terminating in an outwardly projecting center with two. pins 23 which extend into suitable nut or collar 14, which will bind the parallel side bushing l2. The bushing I2 is surrounded by a nut, or collar M. The clamping ring 15 is provided upon One face with a pair of parallel transverse slots l6. for receiving the parallel side strips H of the balancing arm l8 hereinafter described. The supporting spindle l9 carries the rotatable member A and the balancing device. The spindle I9 is provided with a projecting threaded end 20 which projects through the center and. outwardly beyond the clamping nut or collar M. A retaining nut'ZI is threaded upon the extension 20 and engages the clamping nut M, which in turn engage bushing I2 for holding the entire device firmly against the side, of the wheel or rotatable member A.

The bodyportion ID of the device is provided sockets which are formed on both sides of the polishing wheel or rotatable member A, to removably attach the body portion l0 tothe member A and to prevent the body portion In from rotat ing relative to the member A while balancing the device. It should be understood that the body portion ill will in this manner be rigidly securedto the polishing wheel or member A, and that the balancing device may be readily detached therefrom when desired, in a highly efiicient manner. It should be further understood that the balancing arm l8 maybe firmly clamped to the body portion Ill and securely held in an adjusted position by means of tightening the clamping strips I! of the balancing arm l8 against the flat wall 13 of the body portion Hi.

It should be understood that the forms of my invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and' that various changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

The balancing arm l8 may be constructed of Bakelite material, or other suitable non-metal material, to decrease cost of construction. One form of such an arrangement is shown in Figures 1 and 2, wherein the side strips or rails l1 support integral semi-circular end pieces 24 and 25. The end-piece 24 carries a segmental weight 26 preferably of metal, and this weight 26 is secured to the end-piece 24 by means of a countersunk screw 21. Theend-piece 25 carries a weight 28 which may be secured in any suitable manner to the end-piece 25 and a detachable segmental weight 29 is attached to the weight 28 by means of a counter-sunk threaded plug 30. The end pieces 24 and 25 are preferably inclined or bent inwardly toward the wheel A to bring the weight of the balancing device as close as possible to the polishing wheel A as shown in Figure 2.

As shown in Figures 8 and'9, the balancing arm I8 may be made of a single piece of material such as steel or other metal, and is provided with parallel side strips or rails I'I which are connected at their respective ends by the integral inwardly inclined or bent end-pieces 24 and 25*. A detachable segmental weight 29 is detachably secured to the end-piece 25 by means of a countersunk threaded plug 31] similar to the plug 30 above described. The balancing arm may be constructed as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, or as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, and these two forms merely illustrate two types of modifications which fall within the scope of the invention.

In Figures 6, '7 and '7 I have illustrated modified types of center bushings which may be used for various sizes of center arbors. The form shown in Figure 6 illustrates one size, at I 2 and the form shown in Figures '7 and 7 illustrates a second size, as at I2 Figure '7 illustrates the manner in which the bushing I2 engages the body portion ID and the bushing I2 thereof.

The balancing arm, as shown in both forms,

comprises a hollow rectangle member, the side strips or rails being slidable in the slots formed in the clampin ring, so that the balancing arm may be adjusted to shift the weighted portions of the balancing arm to a selected position. The balancing arm may then be locked in this selected position to hold the balancin arm firmly in place. Since the weighted ends of the balancing arm are bent or inclined inwardly toward the polishing wheel or rotating member, these weighted ends will in this way lie close to the wheel or rotating member and will only protrude therefrom to a minimum extent. As shown in Figure 1, the body portion I may be provided with a selected scale S of the type illustrated upon the outer face thereof adjacent the balancing arm I8. This scale S, as shown in Figure 1, is divided into eight segments and each segment is divided into four divisions. The divisions of one segment are marked (1) and the divisions in the next segment are numbered (2), the next (3), and the divisions of the remaining segments arenumbered as shown progressively, according to the progressive location of the segments from 1 to 8. The purpose of this scale is to readily indicate the exact location of the center of gravity of the article to be balanced, and this indication may be observed at the top (above) or at the bottom (below) the device, regardless of the position of the balancing arm. Should one end of the balancing arm, that is to say, the solid portion thereof, hide the figures of the scale at the top of the device, these figures may be observed at the bottom side. For instance, if the position over the center of gravity is directly at the top of the segment (the divisions of which are numbered I), the relative positions in the segment (the divisions of which are numbered 5, which segment is diametrically opposite the segment numbered I), may be observed at the bottom or below the balancing arm. This scale S will aid in placing the bal- I operation of dressing down the wheel.

ancin arm in the proper position relative to the heavy end opposite the center of gravity, or directly opposite the heavy end. Then, by moving the balancing arm outwardly or inwardly, the article to which the arm is attached may be brought to an exact balance.

The balancing arm I8 which carries difierent weights 26 and 28 at its opposite ends, may be circumferentially and diametrically adjusted covering all of the diameter and circumference of a given article to be balanced, including a slightly out-of-balance in degrees, from zero to a greater degree. The balancing arm I8 may be located in an adjusted position by means of the clamping nut or collar I4. The arm I8 is of a heavier weight at 28, than at 26, and the weight of end 28 may be increased by adding the weight 29 as described above. The balancing arm I8 may be moved in the direction of the dotted arrow in Figure 1 to the dotted position to move the heavier end carrying the weight 28 toward the center of the wheel A and locked in position by nut I4. This movement brings the device to a perfect balance in and of itself thereby eliminating the necessity of removing the balancing arm I8 from the supporting polishing wheel A, in the This balancing device eliminates the dangerous method now usually employed, of attaching lead and other weights to the side of a polishing wheel in balancing the wheel. The type of balancing arm Ill shown in Figures 8 and 9, may be similarly adjusted when substituted for the arm I8.

After the balancing arm has been adjusted and set, an inclosure disc 3I is preferably placed over the extension 20, which disc is engaged by a Washer 32 and held against the lock nut M. by means of the retaining nut 2|. The disc 3| is dished as shown in Figure 4, and is provided with an inturned peripheral flange 33 which is adapted to extend toward the polishing wheel A, and inclose and protect the entire mechanism. The edge of the flange 33 is preferably spaced about one-eighth of an inch from the side of the polishing wheel.

As shown in Figure 1, the body portion I0 is provided with enlarged diametrically disposed transverse apertures 34 which are adapted to act as a gig, for boring the holes 2E) in the polishing wheel A. Hollow bushings 35 may be pressed into these holes 23* to receive the pins 23 which are carried by the body portion I0. As shown in Figure 4, the polishing wheel is preferably provided With holes or sockets 23 in each side of the polishing wheel or rotatable member A. This will permit the Wheel A to be rotated in the same direction on each end of a polishing jack without turning the wheel A around or reversing the same.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In combination with a spindle, a rotatable polishing wheel carried thereby, a body portion carried by the spindle and detachably engaging said wheel, said body portion having a concentric scale formed upon the outer face thereof, an elongated balancing arm movable radially of said scale to accurately and ecoentrically position the center of mass of the balancing device to balance said wheel, said scale having graduations extending radially of the scale and in substantially the same direction of adjustment of said balancing arm, and removable weights carried by one end of the balancing arm for adjusting Weight of one end of the balancing device,

2. In combination with a spindle, a rotatable polishing wheel mounted thereon, an elongated balancing device having spaced end portions of different weights, parallel side strips connecting the end portions, a clamping member carried by said spindle, said clamping member having parallel transverse slots near the edges thereof for receiving said side strips, the slots having walls of material length for providing a maximum gripping surface to engage the side strips and resist independent rotation and centrifugal force of the balancing device relative to the spindle and clamping member, the polishing wheel carrying abutment means against which the strips are adapted to be clamped, and an adjustable clamping member adjustable relative to the abutment means for clamping the first mentioned clamping member against said side strips and binding said side strips against said abutment means, and the clamping and the adjustable clamping members having abutting faces extending circumferentially of the spindle for providing a maximum clamping area between the clamping members.

3. In combination with a spindle, a rotatable polishing wheel mounted therein, an elongated balancing arm having spaced end portions of different weights, parallel side strips connecting the end portions, a clamping member carried by said spindle, said clamping member having parallel transverse slots near the edges thereof for receiving said side strips, each slot having spaced parallel side walls and an inner wall all of material length for providing a maximum gripping surface to engage the side strips and resist independent rotation and centrifugal force of the balancing arm relative to the spindle and clamping member, the polishing Wheel carrying abutment means against which the strips are adapted to be clamped, and an adjustable clamping member adjustable relative to the abutment means for clamping the first mentioned clamping member against said side strips and binding said side strips against said abutment means, and the clamping and the adjustable clamping members having abutting faces extending circumferentially of the spindle for providing a maximum clamping area between the clamping members.

FRED A. NICHOLS. 

